The Last Run

Other than Noir Alley, it's not all that common for TCM to run a movie twice within the same month. But there is an example of it coming up, as TCM ran The Last Run a week or so ago and is running it again at the end of the daytime schedule, or 6:15 PM.

George C. Scott plays Harry Garmes, who is living in the south of Portugal and doesn't exactly have the best life. His son died tragically young several years ago and, as a result, his wife more or less left him. As the movie opens, Harry is souping up a car, in preparation for a job. Harry had worked in the past as a driver for various criminal elements, now living off of what he'd been able to save up. But he's willing to take up one last job, in part in the hopes that he'll be able to have a better retirement. His one friend is the retired prostitute Monique (Colleen Dewhurst).

Anyhow, the job is to drive all the way to France to pick up the escaped American convict Paul Rickard (Tony Musante) and bring him back to Spain. This was the era when Franco still ran Spain so extradition wasn't anywhere near what it is today with the EU. In Spain, Harry is to rendezvous with the people Paul had worked with and dropped him off. Paul, he's been warned, is a bit of a loose cannon. And it doesn't take all that long to discover that Paul is indeed a bit of a problem.

For one thing, he has no compunction about using violence, even when the smarter and more jaded Harry understands that tactical violence would be strategically ill-advised. There's also the fact that Paul wants to bring along his girlfriend Claudie (Trish Van Devere) even though this will enormously complicate things. She doesn't have any sort of criminal record so it would be easier for her to travel solo, but no; Paul wants what he wants, and why should he care how this is going to inconvenience the people around him.

The three of them have no issue getting back into Spain and making it to what is supposed to be the drop-off point. Except that when the time comes for the transfer, they learn it's a trap and that the men who were paying Harry to deliver Paul in fact want to kill Paul for reasons that are never really explained. In any case, it means that the three are going to have to try to make it back to Portugal unseen by the men who had hired Harry. After all, they still want Paul dead. And since Harry helped bollix that, they'll have no issue with killing Harry too. Harry's idea is to get the three of them back to Harry's home in Portugal, and then come up with a way of getting Paul and Claudie to Africa where they can start a new life. Harry, for his part, does have the option of going back to America. But there's also the issue that Paul doesn't always trust Harry, and with good reason; how is Paul supposed to know whether Harry is really working with the men trying to kill him or not?

The Last Run is another of those movies that has a good idea behind it, but that is ultimately beset with a poor script. The whole thing has a "been there, done that" feel to it, along with a relative lack of character development. One doesn't really care all that much about Paul. Perhaps the movie's problems are also caused by the fact that John Huston who was originally set to direct dropped out halfway through production. The one bright spot is the location photography, but that's not enough to save The Last Run.